Notable Quotables - 10/21/1996

Published: 10/21/1996 12:00 AM ET

Dole: Mean and
Harsh

"Good morning,
everyone. The last debate of the national political campaign
is on tap for tonight in San Diego. Bob Dole is not waiting
for that debate to attack Bill Clinton's ethics. With more on
a campaign that is now getting meaner, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell
is standing by live in San Diego."- Matt Lauer leading
off his October 16 Today newscast.

"Rita, true or
untrue that they're preparing for a kind of carpet bombing on
character?"- Dan Rather to Rita Braver on what the
White House faced from Bob Dole in that night's debate, Oct.
16 Evening News.

"Was he
borrowing the words of an over-enthusiastic supporter, or did
Bob Dole lower the level of civility a notch in his contest
with Bill Clinton?"- Bernard Shaw on the
"Bozo" comment, October 8 Inside Politics.

"I know that was
a major goal of the Dole campaign [in the debate], to make
sure people saw this compassionate side of Bob Dole. Do you
think that he is in some ways paying the price for a
Republican Congress that enacted, or tried to enact measures,
in the views of many were simply too harsh or too
draconian?"- Katie Couric to Elizabeth Dole, October 8 Today.

"Let me just
turn to the presidential campaign very quickly. As you've
heard, Tim, it turned decidedly nastier in the Dole camp
yesterday. He was talking about a moral crisis. He refused to
answer a question if President Clinton was morally and
ethically capable of being President. You heard that Bozo
exchange. Effective strategy or is this going to come back to
haunt him?"- Katie Couric to Tim Russert, Oct. 9 Today.

"In his
harshest, most personal attack yet on the President, Bob Dole
today charged that the Clinton Administration is unethical,
that Bill Clinton himself is slipping and sliding away from
questions about possible illegal campaign contributions."- NBC reporter David Bloom, October 14 Nightly News.

"Senator Dole
said he wasn't going to mention Whitewater, then Whitewater
did rear its ugly head last night."- CBS This Morning
co-host Mark McEwen to Fred Barnes the morning after the first
debate, Oct. 7.Phil Jones: CBS
Hatchet Man

"He's got to
explain how his campaign centerpiece, the 15 percent tax cut,
can be paid for without draconian cuts in social programs. He
wants to talk about the character issue, but he can't get
personal or look mean-spirited doing it." - Phil Jones
on what Dole needed to do in the upcoming debate, October 4
CBS Evening News.

"I think that if
I had to say probably where he was the weakest and where he
really needed to score was, he needed to explain to the
American people how this country can afford that 15 percent
tax cut, the centerpiece of his campaign, without these
draconian cuts. I don't think he has done that yet." -
Reporter Phil Jones on CBS after the October 6 debate.

"It's a tough
speech for him to make because he runs the risk of looking
desperate and mean-spirited." - Phil Jones on Dole
raising Clinton's "public ethics," October 15 CBS
Evening News.

"Attacking the
President could be risky for Mr. Dole because of the debate
format. The candidates will be facing voters who are asking
the questions, not a reporter. Mr. Dole has never been able to
shed that image of a hatchet man that he got back in his 1976
vice presidential debate and the last thing he needs tonight
is a boo, a hiss, or a gasp from one of the questioners who
thinks he's being too mean." - Phil Jones, October 16
CBS Evening News.

Characterwise,
It's Clinton Over Reagan

"In the first
two years this is a man [Clinton] who tried his best to
balance the budget, to reform health care, to fight for gay
rights, to support personal freedoms. Couldn't those be
considered doing the right things, evidence of true
character?"- Bryant Gumbel to David Maraniss, MSNBC's InterNight, October 10.

"Lou, I know you
feel as if Reagan had few, if any, character flaws. But let me
ask you this. When one sidesteps, or refuses to acknowledge
the consequences of their policies or actions, why shouldn't
that be viewed as a character flaw? Or when one lies. For
example, let me roll a clip and then we'll come back. This one
deals with Iran-Contra."- Gumbel to Washington Post
reporter Lou Cannon, same show.

"While he
appeared to be empathetic, his policies caused enormous
suffering for those who were least able to afford it?"-
Gumbel to Cannon in discussion about Ronald Reagan, same show.

"Elections, like
actions, have consequences. Sometimes it's hard to know what
they might be. Did Americans know that electing Ronald Reagan
would send the deficit through the roof? Do we know that
electing Bob Dole would lessen drug use?"- CNN reporter
Bruce Morton on Late Edition, September 29.

Hateful Hunt
Hates Conservatives, Loves Liberals

"I think North
Carolina is a test in the great divide in the Republican
conservative movement. There's the politics of hope
personified by Jack Kemp and there's the politics of hate
personified by Jesse Helms."- Wall Street Journal
Executive Washington Editor Al Hunt, October 5 Capital Gang on
CNN.

"Kenneth Starr,
the supposedly non-partisan independent counsel investigating
the Clintons, was the featured speaker yesterday at a luncheon
sponsored by right wing hatemonger Pat Robertson [who runs
the] Christian Broadcasting Network and Regent Law School. By
pandering to Clinton-haters, Mr. Starr appears to be
abandoning all pretenses of impartiality. He went into this
job with a reputation as a fair-minded conservative. He now
looks more like a political hit man desperately eager for a
future Supreme Court appointment."- Al Hunt's Outrage
of the Week, October 5 Capital Gang.

"Whatever you
thought of Jimmy Carter as President, he has been a great
ex-President, helping to avoid bloodshed from North Korea to
Haiti, bringing health care to children in Africa and Latin
America. Even Bob Novak has lauded some of these efforts. The
outrage? The Nobel Peace prize for years has given President
Carter the back of its hand. It can make amends next week and
give him what he deserves: the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize."- Al Hunt, September 28 Capital Gang.

Can't Tell What
Peter Thinks

"There was a
study released at Penn State University today that you may
hear a lot about this weekend. It purports to show a
connection between women who have had abortions and the risk
of developing breast cancer. And if you see it around,
remember this. It is not original research, but an analysis of
23 earlier studies. And the National Cancer Institute says
those individual studies were actually inconclusive, and
because of that, various other scientists say today the Penn
State report is flawed."- Peter Jennings
"reporting" a study which appeared in the Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health showing that abortion is
responsible for 5,000 cases of breast cancer each year,
October 11 World News Tonight.

And They Say Dole
is Harsh and Nasty

"I was watching
his acceptance speech in San Diego, which was really the
speech of his life, it was a very dramatic event. And I'm
standing there with one of our younger producers at MSNBC.
She's 24 or something and I said `What do you think?' She
said, `You know, he scares me.' And I said, `What do you mean
he scares you?' She said `It doesn't matter what he's trying
to say, it doesn't matter what the speech says or how well
he's doing it, all I hear him say is GET OFF MY LAWN! I have
this mental image. I'm playing with my friends on the rich
guy's lawn and the guy comes to the door, with his little pen,
you know, and says GET OFF MY LAWN!'"- NBC and MSNBC
anchor Brian Williams on the Tonight Show, October 10.

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.